The 40-year-old actress couldn't hold in her tears as she got the news.
Vanessa Lachey is sharing her emotional response to landing a big TV role. The 40-year-old actress posted a video to Instagram on Monday that she took moments after finding out that she booked the part of Jane Tennant, Special Agent in charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor, on CBS' NCIS: Hawaii, which is set to premiere later this month.
In the clip, Vanessa, wearing a hat and a black shirt, is sobbing in the car, as her 4-year-old son, Phoenix, sits in the backseat. She and her husband, Nick Lachey, also share Camden, 9, and Brooklyn, 6.
"I'm in the car and I just found out I got the job," she said through intense tears. "I couldn't take a video because I was on my phone. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Thank you. I'm so happy."
Vanessa turned around to see her son at that point, telling him, "We're happy, right? He doesn't know what we're happy about."
The actress next revealed that she was pulling up to her best friend's house when she got the call, something that made the experience even more "perfect."
As soon as she pulled up the rest of the way to her pal's house, she jumped out of the car and exclaimed "I got the job!" multiple times as she jumped up and down and cried. Her friend was quick to respond with hugs and congrats.
"I remember the day I got the call 'You got the job!' I will never forget it! Dreams do come true," Vanessa captioned the emotional clip. "One week from today, our show premieres and I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity. My life is changed forever."
After Vanessa landed the gig, she and her family made the move to Hawaii so she could shoot the show. It was a move that Nick and their children were more than happy to make.
"It was a talk that I had with my husband and I said, 'What do you think?' and he's like, 'Hawaii, umm, it could be worse.' And he was like, 'This is awesome!'" Vanessa told ET's Cassie DiLaura earlier this month. "And I'll never forget him saying, 'This is your time and you've been there in the past for me.' This is a thing that would take our whole family out of the mainland and bring them very far away, and he was on board to support me."
Vanessa noted that her family's new life in Hawaii has been "working," and that her kids have even started school.
"I told the kids and they were gung ho because they think that Hawaii is water slides, play. I ask them all the time, 'Are you happy or no?' And they're like, 'Yeah!' So they're very happy here, they love it here," she said. "They're island babies. I didn't even realize I had island babies until I brought them here."
"For my kids, it's great because I think that there's something that you can't teach your children, the whole leading by example verses telling them when they see different kids in different states and different cultures and different economic backgrounds," Vanessa added. "… I just want them to be in a more multicultural lifestyle."
As for the show itself, NCIS: Hawaii follows Vanessa's character, the first female lead in NCIS franchise history, as she and her team balance duty to family and country, investigating high-stakes crimes involving military personnel, national security and the mysteries of the island itself.
"It means a lot," she said of being the first female franchise lead. "It's something I definitely don't take for granted and something that I will not take lightly. But it's an honor and it's even evolving the NCIS franchise. I got some big shoes to fill with the fellas before me."
All in all, Vanessa said, the job is a dream come true.
"This is everything that I've ever wanted, dreamed, envisioned. Without even realizing it, this is the job!" she told ET. "This is something that I didn't even realize was something [I wanted] my entire life. And now that it's here, I've realized that all of my work and all of my work ethic, and how I try to be as a person, as a woman, as a mother, as friend, as a coworker, is all encapsulated in this moment."
NCIS: Hawaii premieres Monday, Sept. 20 on CBS.
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